As popular movements surge around the globe, people everywhere are asking about the possibilities of social, political and economic transformation. But governments seem to be unable to respond to their citizens, unable to solve the problems that plague them. Why is it that democracies don’t seem to be able to represent their people? What can we do about it?

These are the questions that Center for Global Justice author Cliff DuRand addresses in his book “Recreating Democracy in a Globalized State.” It is a critique of corporate-led neoliberal globalization, arguing that it has transformed nation-states into globalized states that serve the interests of transnational capital above the interests of national populations. DuRand sees this tendency in both states of the global North like the US and the global South like Mexico. With political systems in crisis, what can we the people do? View the video of his February 6, 2013 talk at http://vimeo.com/60132215